The War

   


         The War was a perfect portrayal of the need of guidance and the unnecessary need for violence most of the time.  Through memoir and the facts of history this movie is able to show people that even though people may understand war, war will never understand people. The film perfectly conveys the message that there our solutions to the problems we face without violence no matter how badly you want violence to solve the issue theres better ways and thats what Kevin Costner does perfectly in his role of the father of Stu and Lidia. The film brings up numerous issues like race, money, family, and success and the fear of failure and it gives the viewer ways to overcome these issues.


          The war does a really good job of conveying meaning and emotion which are two of the main points of the film. The meaning of parenthood and raising your children to be better then there peers and to not make the same mistakes as you has a lot of meaning in this film. Kevin Costner suffers from PTS in the film and struggles from his experiences in Vietnam and all the violence. Because of what he's been through he makes it his mission to show his children that violence isn't the answer and i think that's the main point of this film and its a brilliant message to get across. When it comes to emotion Stu was very emotional throughout the film. Stu's passion and emotion is something that turned him into a man towards the end of film and realizing his father was watching and he realized just how influential his father was on him and in a good way. Memoir really allowed this film to leave a message in the viewers mind. Instead of a narrator or just one persons view, The war was a combination of numerous peoples memoirs which allows the viewer to get different points of view all supporting the idea that violence isn't the solution.


         Music and sound is one of the most important features in this film because most of the time its very depressing and dark. One of the most vivid sounds was the water tank. The water tank sounded like a raging waterfall and was extremely dark inside. You can only imagine how terrifying it would be to jump into that tank but Stu does it twice. The first time he does it to out do the Lipnicki's for the tree house and the second time to save Billy Lipnicki's life which goes to show you the kind of person Stu became at the end of the film thanks to his father. One thing i noticed when it came to the music was when Gimme Shelter was played during the battle scene with the Lipnicki's at the tree house. When it comes to the Vietnam war i always associate it with this Rolling Stones song and that also may be because of Forrest Gump but its something i noticed. The music and sound were ultimately pretty dark and loud because thats how this film was intended.


       The main two conflicts in this film were violence and race. kevin Costner wanted to make sure the youth in this film knew that violence only makes things worst most of the time. The Lipnicki's are constantly bullying and taking advantage of Stu and Lidia and they cant do anything about it because there father is teaching them violence and retaliation isn't the answer. Something else thats really special is how kevin Costner is able to help and change the lifestyles of the lipnicki's as well who suffer from an abusive father, limited food, and horrible living conditions. The other main conflict was race. One of the most important scenes from the film is when Lidia stands up for Elvadeen when she's sent to the back by there extremely racist teacher. Because of the way Lidia was raised she wasn't going to allow a girl to be mistreated because of the color of her skin but aslo because she was her best friend. This is because she was raised properly and had a very influential father. Another main point of this film was to convey the struggles of PTS. PTS is a serious disease that many war veterans experience because they're so haunted by there past. You get a vivid example of it in the begininning of the film when Stu wakes up his father and his father grabs him as if Stu was a threat. There violent pasts make them think that its not over and it can be extremely serious. Although PTS is horrible Kevin Costner was able to handle it extremely well in my opinion. All together this collection of memoirs leaves the viewer thinking that maybe violence isn't the solution and does a really good job of portraying that message.

This last week in class we continued to work on our college essays and read our memoirs. I've gotten pretty far in my memoir and have been amazed with my Reymundo's story. The young and childhood days for Reymundo were torture and it seemed the only way out for him was to join a gang and gain a sense of family and protection the his abusing parents. The story is fascinating and every time i sit down to read it i enjoy it which usually doesn't happen for me very often with most things i read. In addition to reading my memoir i aslo got to meet with Ms. Menough and go over my college essay. I have some really good content but need to make it longer and go more in depth in some parts of my essay. All together last week was a pretty successful week and i got a lot accomplished. I've been revising my college essay on a separate doc and im really happy with how its turning out. I took Ms. Menough's advice and went more in detail and the more important aspects of my paper. With my critiquing and Ms. Menough's my essay is going to be the quality i want it to be at when im done with it. I know the schools im applying to will find my essay very intriguing and interesting because of my love for the game of hockey and the ice rink. I have so much experience and so many stories with the game that i believe ill be able to blow away my readers with an in depth look at how somebody can love something so much. I'm glad i got the chance to review my essay with Ms. Menough and get other peoples advice on my writing.

This week in class we started writing our college essays and continued reading our memoir books. I chose the picture of CU Boulder because its the school i would like to go to if hockey doesn't work out for me. Both my parents went to CU and i've been raised to be a buff. My parents took me to my first CU football game months after i was born. I love the campus and culture and im still deciding what i want to study but as of right now im pretty sure on CU. My love for CU goes farther then my family and my familiarity with the university. The location and the people in the community are my kind of people. I love the laid back approach but when it comes to academics the students know when things are important but still know how to have fun and i respect that. I want to enter the business school and i know the business school is highly respected and if i can get into that i will have a bright future when im out of school. Knowing im close to home is also important to me because i'm not one of those kids who wants to get away. I want to experience the college life and become more independent but i like the idea of having my family close by. When looking at CU i see that its the perfect place for me which is why im so eager to get the opportunity to go there.

This week we also continued to read our memoir books and mine only got more intense. On the second page of my memoir i've already found out that my main character was raped by his brother at a young age and his brother threatened his life if he told anyone about it. This is just in the first couple pages of my memoir i cant imagine what im going to find out in the whole book. I've read about three chapters and have enjoyed my memoir so far so im happy i made a good decision in choosing my memoir. As i read deeper i learned more about my main character Reymundo. He lived a miserable life and did the horrible things he did in order to survive and fit in. The struggle to be accepted is so great that Reymundo begins experimenting with drugs and alcohol as well as sex at a very young age. Being new to America Reymundo believes in order to fit in he must do these things and this is when his starts turning for the worst. Reymundo's life at home only makes things worse. At home he's beaten and abused both mentally and physically. He quickly learns that he'd rather be away from home and stay away from his abusive parents. Leaving the house and entering the streets isn't a good idea either but Reymundo learns that the hard way. Reymundo's journey is truly remarkable and i've enjoyed every part of it.

world around us

This past weekend when i went to Detroit for hockey i experienced something that to some may not seem like that big of a life experience but to me was pretty eye-opening. In the airport on the way to Detroit i left behind my computer and wallet at the spot i was sitting at on the wall that had a charger. I had left my stuff there, i have no idea how but i did. I had walked a good distance away and a man came running up to me giving me my laptop and wallet. I was shocked because i couldn't believe i had left that behind but also that this man came running up to me and gave them back. It just goes to show you how there are still good people out there and are doing the right thing. This experience made me consider the world around us and made me think that maybe the world around us isn't that bad after all. This is more then just the world around us but also the integrity of the people. The good people have integrity and know that maybe they might not want to do the right thing and return someones wallet but they do because they know its the right thing. Doing the right thing can be hard sometimes and thats by the world around us can be a struggle but overcoming that is something special.

memoir book

This week in class we chose our memoirs for the upcoming project. The memoir i chose was My Bloody Life the making of a Latin king. I chose this because it seemed really intense and real and right away i wanted to know more when i first heard about it in class. My memoir is a story about a young runaway Reymundo Sanchez who joins the Latin Kings at the age of 14 by committing his first hit(murder).The story Reymundo has to tell is remarkable knowing all the horrible things he did at a young age in the streets of Chicago.He lived the highs of the gang life but also lived the lows the life can bring. Knowing we have to do a presentation on our memoir i thought a presentation to the class about the gang life would be really interesting to the class. All together i'm really happy with the memoir i chose and i look forward to reading more into it and learning more about the crazy life of Reymundo Sanchez. knowing we have a large presentation on our memoir im glad i have something that will shock the class when i present. His story is shocking and frightening at times. When people first hear about it they dont believe it which is why i think its so powerful. knowing i have something so powerful will allow me to get into my presentation which is important. Sometimes the material you have to present with isn't important to you and then your presentation shows. Im just glad i will be able to give a good presentation to the class and not bore them.

About me

Hockey has been one of the biggest parts of my life for the last 10 years. The teams i've played on and the kids i've played with have made me the person i am today. With the routes i've chosen i plan on continuing to make hockey the biggest part of my life behind my family and school. I want to be able to play in college and im trying my best to make that dream a reality. The last four years i've been playing with the Roughriders who im still playing with this year. Next year i want to be able to play junior hockey and my goal is the USHL(united states hockey league). The amount of time and work i put in is what its going to take in order for me to achieve that goal. The ultimate goal though is to play division 1 college hockey. My family plays a huge role in me achieving my goals as well because they have sacrificed so much to allow me to play at the level im playing at now. If it wasn't for them i wouldn't be where i am today.

Another big part of my life is the affect breast cancer has had on my family. Both my mom and grandmother had breast cancer and both were able to overcome it. These times were some of the hardest times my family has ever had but it also made us come together and brought us closer. I chose the race for the cure picture because almost everyone in my family has done it and it was an amazing experience. My mom is also a big runner and when she got the opportunity to run it she was stoked. Now my mom and grandma go to anything they can to help spread awareness and its become a big part of my families life.

Besides hockey the other sport that i play is lacrosse which has also been another big part of my life. I've been playing lacrosse for six years now and im really glad i got into it. Some od the best times i've had on out of state trips with any team i've been on have been with the teams i've played lacrosse with. Every spring break the Monarch team goes to San Diego except last year we went to Philadelphia which was still a good time. Ever since my freshman year i've really enjoyed coyote lacrosse. As you can see sports is a big part of my life and besides hockey lacrosse is the next best thing. Being able to play for your school is another thing i really enjoy because with hockey i play for club. All together lacrosse is a nice break from hockey and the times i've had playing lacrosse i'll never forget.